US4023272A - Non-shorting wire cutter - Google Patents

Non-shorting wire cutter Download PDF

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Publication number
US4023272A
US4023272A US05/616,831 US61683175A US4023272A US 4023272 A US4023272 A US 4023272A US 61683175 A US61683175 A US 61683175A US 4023272 A US4023272 A US 4023272A
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
blades
wire
blade
connector
wire cutter
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US05/616,831
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Dennis C. Siden
Corey J. McMills
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Raychem Corp
Original Assignee
Raychem Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Raychem Corp filed Critical Raychem Corp
Priority to US05/616,831 priority Critical patent/US4023272A/en
Priority to FR7628843A priority patent/FR2326060A1/fr
Priority to GB39850/76A priority patent/GB1566267A/en
Priority to JP51115328A priority patent/JPS5256500A/ja
Priority to DE19762643350 priority patent/DE2643350A1/de
Priority to CA262,147A priority patent/CA1041874A/en
Priority to US05/791,420 priority patent/US4121338A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US4023272A publication Critical patent/US4023272A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02G—INSTALLATION OF ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES, OR OF COMBINED OPTICAL AND ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES
    • H02G1/00—Methods or apparatus specially adapted for installing, maintaining, repairing or dismantling electric cables or lines
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02G—INSTALLATION OF ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES, OR OF COMBINED OPTICAL AND ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES
    • H02G1/00—Methods or apparatus specially adapted for installing, maintaining, repairing or dismantling electric cables or lines
    • H02G1/005—Methods or apparatus specially adapted for installing, maintaining, repairing or dismantling electric cables or lines for cutting cables or wires, or splicing
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T29/00—Metal working
    • Y10T29/53—Means to assemble or disassemble
    • Y10T29/5313—Means to assemble electrical device
    • Y10T29/53257—Means comprising hand-manipulatable implement
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T83/00—Cutting
    • Y10T83/04—Processes

Definitions

  • This invention relates to means for cutting wire. In another aspect it relates to means for cutting plural individual conductors while in service.
  • Telephone cable is typically a package of plural individaul conductors having their own insulating sleeve or coating. This insulation normally is a polymeric material.
  • the individual insulated conductors (wires) are combined into a bundle around which is disposed a covering layer of relatively heavy duty insulating material in order to provide protection from mechanical damage, corrosion or other environmental hazards.
  • each cable can carry numerous telephone "lines”.
  • these splices are made by what the art refers to as Y splices using specially adapted splice connectors of the MS 2 or SECS types. These provide means for making splices with the usual cable bundle of 50 individual wire conductors to form the Y splice. Then one leg of the Y is detached without interrupting service.
  • the practice has been to detach the old circuit with conventional wire cutting equipment, typically metal snips or tool steel diagonal cutters. In order to do this, the closely spaced wires must be carefully separated and individually cut as near the splice connector as possible.
  • one object of this invention is to provide an improved means for cutting or severing plural conductors while they are in service.
  • Another object of this invention is to provide a process by which plural conductors can be severed while in use.
  • cutting means having a pair of blades that are offset from and movable relative to each other so as to contact the substrate to be severed between them at a blade angle of about 0°.
  • the blades should be of a material that exhibits a bulk resistivity of at least about 1.0 ohm-cm.
  • the blade material is an organic polymer having a Rockwell hardness of M30 or greater.
  • FIG. 1 is an illustration of a pair of blades according to the present invention.
  • FIGS. 2 and 3 are illustrations of wire cutting devices of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a device adapted for use with splice connectors for telephone cable.
  • FIGS. 5 and 6 are partial views in perspective of the device of FIG. 4 as employed with a splice connector for telephone cable.
  • This invention provides a method and apparatus for cutting insulated wires by which it is possible to cut plural insulated wires simultaneously while the wires are carrying a current without creating a short circuit between one or more pairs of the conductors.
  • wire is meant not only conventional, concentrically arranged insulated conductors for which prior art wire cutters are normally designed to cut, but also, other "wire” configurations for which the invention is particularly suited. Therefore, the term “wire” is not to be narrowly construed as it includes a variety of conductor-insulation configurations of which flat cable and ribbon cable are also examples.
  • FIG. 1 there is an illustration of a pair of blades 11 and 12 having located there between a conventional wire 13 comprised of a metal conductor 14 surrounded by an insulation cover 15.
  • Blades 11 and 12 are fabricated from a material having a bulk resistivity of at least about 1.0 ohm-cm in order that it not cause a short circuit when the cutter is used to sever wires carrying a current and in order that the severance of the wires can be made without danger to the operator of the cutter.
  • organic polymers are particularly useful for this purpose even though their hardness is considerably less than the conducting element of the wire being cut if the blades of the cutter are provided the configuration shown in FIG. 1.
  • blades 11 and 12 have a thickness of uniform cross-section, giving them a blade angle of 0°, in order that they will resist deformation when contact is made with the wire 13 and conducting element 14 after cutting through the insulation 15.
  • the blades are offset as shown in FIG. 1 in order to allow both blades to pass through the wire from opposite sides.
  • 16 and 17 represent the opposing cutting edges by which wire is deformed and cut.
  • the force required to deform the blade is large compared to the shear strength of typical conductors. If the blades were designed as are conventional wire cutters, the blades of which are designed to pass through the wire and contact each other on their cutting surfaces, the result would be merely to compress the wire 13. Any displacement of the offset blades should be as little as possible. Preferably it is less than 1 wire diameter.
  • the blade materials preferably have a Rockwell hardness of at least about M30.
  • Suitable polymers for this purpose include thermoset resins and engineering thermoplastics such as epoxy resin, acrylic polymers such as the homopolymers and copolymers of acrylic acid and similar acids such as methacrylic acid and their alkyl esters such as ethyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate, and acrylonitrile and its copolymers such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer.
  • Polyamides such as nylon 6/6, polycarbonates, and polyaromatic polymers such as polyphenylene oxide, polyaryl ketones, polyaryl sulfones and polystyrene can be used. Also useful are polyvinylidene fluoride, polyvinyl chloride and other haloolefin polymers. Formaldehyde resins such as acetals or the phenal-aldehyde resins would also be useful. The foregoing list it not an exhaustive one. Rather, it is merely illustrative of the types of polymers useful.
  • polymers in many cases can be advantageously employed as reinforced or filled polymers where the reinforcement is glass or other inorganic fibers or particulates such as silica, alumina and the like.
  • Use of a blade fabricated from the polyaryl ketone Stilan (available from Raychem Corporation) of about 0.1 inches thick enables one to cut conventional telephone wire of 18 to 22 awg copper or aluminum.
  • Blades 11 and 12 may be employed in a cutter where each moves relative to the wire substrate.
  • one blade it is within the scope of the invention for one blade to be, in effect, an anvil and be fixed relative to the wire. Accordingly, the term "blade" includes an anvil structure.
  • Cutter 18 is provided with handles 19 and 20 to move jaws 21 and 22, respectively, relative to each other about pivot member 23.
  • Jaw 21 is provided with a removable blade 24 having a blade angle of 0° fabricated from a material as previously described.
  • Jaw 22 is provided with blade 25, also removably mounted, having a blade angle of 0°. As shown, the blades are offset relative to each other in order that they may pass each other but be in close proximity when moved into contact with and through the wire being cut.
  • FIG. 3 A similar cutter is shown in FIG. 3 in which jaws 26 and 27 have blades 28 and 29 respectively. Again the blades are removably mounted and a new blade can be used to displace the old when the latter is worn.
  • the effective cutting surface is determined by the cut width of the jaws and blades and, in the case of hand held cutters, can be as wide as will be accommodated by the strength of the human hand or as narrow as the access requirements for specific purposes require.
  • FIGS. 4-6 a cutter specially adapted for use with SECS and MS 2 splice connectors used in splicing telephone cable.
  • the upper jaw 30 is provided with a blade 31 similar to the blades illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.
  • Both upper jaw 30 and lower jaw 32 are provided with slots 33 and 34 to receive a splice connection 35 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Only the details of connector 35 essential to the illustration of the present invention are shown.
  • Shown in FIG. 5 are recesses 37, adapted to receive the individual conductors of a telephone cable.
  • Upper member 38 is pressed over the individual wires 39 and interlocks with lower member 40 to securely retain the wires of the cable in the splice connector.
  • Lower member 40 is provided with plural means to pierce the insulation of the insulated wires with a conducting element when the splice connector is assembled. These means are in electrical commmunication with the individual wires (not shown) to be incorporated in the new circuit.
  • FIGS. 4-6 allow the wires to be cleanly cut at the face of the connector quickly and without shorting.
  • the methods of the prior art such as using metal diagonal cutting pliers, required that each member be cut individually.
  • the cutters leave protrusions of wire which, if the cutting is not done with great care, result in lengths of exposed wire which can still contact each other, if displaced while in service, to cause short-circuits.

Landscapes

  • Removal Of Insulation Or Armoring From Wires Or Cables (AREA)
  • Scissors And Nippers (AREA)
  • Manufacturing Of Electrical Connectors (AREA)
  • Harvester Elements (AREA)
US05/616,831 1975-09-25 1975-09-25 Non-shorting wire cutter Expired - Lifetime US4023272A (en)

Priority Applications (7)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US05/616,831 US4023272A (en) 1975-09-25 1975-09-25 Non-shorting wire cutter
FR7628843A FR2326060A1 (fr) 1975-09-25 1976-09-24 Pince coupante evitant les courts-circuits
GB39850/76A GB1566267A (en) 1975-09-25 1976-09-24 Advice for and a method of cutting insulated conductors
JP51115328A JPS5256500A (en) 1975-09-25 1976-09-25 Method of cutting plurality of lead wires and device therefor
DE19762643350 DE2643350A1 (de) 1975-09-25 1976-09-25 Schneidverfahren und schneidvorrichtung
CA262,147A CA1041874A (en) 1975-09-25 1976-09-27 Non-shorting wire cutter
US05/791,420 US4121338A (en) 1975-09-25 1977-04-27 Non-shorting wire cutter

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US05/616,831 US4023272A (en) 1975-09-25 1975-09-25 Non-shorting wire cutter

Related Child Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US05/791,420 Continuation-In-Part US4121338A (en) 1975-09-25 1977-04-27 Non-shorting wire cutter

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US4023272A true US4023272A (en) 1977-05-17

Family

ID=24471112

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US05/616,831 Expired - Lifetime US4023272A (en) 1975-09-25 1975-09-25 Non-shorting wire cutter
US05/791,420 Expired - Lifetime US4121338A (en) 1975-09-25 1977-04-27 Non-shorting wire cutter

Family Applications After (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US05/791,420 Expired - Lifetime US4121338A (en) 1975-09-25 1977-04-27 Non-shorting wire cutter

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (2) US4023272A (de)
JP (1) JPS5256500A (de)
CA (1) CA1041874A (de)
DE (1) DE2643350A1 (de)
FR (1) FR2326060A1 (de)
GB (1) GB1566267A (de)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4121338A (en) * 1975-09-25 1978-10-24 Raychem Corporation Non-shorting wire cutter
US5080572A (en) * 1989-05-02 1992-01-14 Sagebrush Industries Snow ball making device
US20030015824A1 (en) * 2001-02-12 2003-01-23 Forbes Alan H. Injection-molded, mineral-filled articles and processes for making the same

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5638602A (en) * 1995-04-17 1997-06-17 Cooper Industries Cable severance tool
US6378215B1 (en) 2001-02-26 2002-04-30 John B. Carman Device for severing electrical conductors

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2563521A (en) * 1951-08-07 Novelty scissors
US3372482A (en) * 1966-05-13 1968-03-12 Pasquale A. Mercorelli Cutter for excising shapes from sheet material
US3858158A (en) * 1971-12-22 1974-12-31 Western Electric Co Devices for making electrical connections
US3921640A (en) * 1974-03-22 1975-11-25 Int Paper Co Disposable surgical instruments

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB1172204A (en) * 1968-04-26 1969-11-26 Hepworth Electrical Developmen Improvements in or relating to Hacking Knives
US3913586A (en) * 1974-01-28 1975-10-21 Gomco Surgical Mfg Co Hemostat
US3916733A (en) * 1974-02-14 1975-11-04 Raychem Corp Wire cutter-stripper
US3931672A (en) * 1974-06-19 1976-01-13 Raychem Corporation Deformable wire stripper
US4023272A (en) * 1975-09-25 1977-05-17 Raychem Corporation Non-shorting wire cutter

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2563521A (en) * 1951-08-07 Novelty scissors
US3372482A (en) * 1966-05-13 1968-03-12 Pasquale A. Mercorelli Cutter for excising shapes from sheet material
US3858158A (en) * 1971-12-22 1974-12-31 Western Electric Co Devices for making electrical connections
US3921640A (en) * 1974-03-22 1975-11-25 Int Paper Co Disposable surgical instruments

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4121338A (en) * 1975-09-25 1978-10-24 Raychem Corporation Non-shorting wire cutter
US5080572A (en) * 1989-05-02 1992-01-14 Sagebrush Industries Snow ball making device
US20030015824A1 (en) * 2001-02-12 2003-01-23 Forbes Alan H. Injection-molded, mineral-filled articles and processes for making the same

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CA1041874A (en) 1978-11-07
US4121338A (en) 1978-10-24
GB1566267A (en) 1980-04-30
DE2643350A1 (de) 1977-04-07
FR2326060A1 (fr) 1977-04-22
JPS5256500A (en) 1977-05-09

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